


Our Greatest Adventure

by yet_i_remain_quiet



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Felicity is pregnant - Freeform, Protective Oliver, Set in the future, established olicity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-06-09 18:17:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6917932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yet_i_remain_quiet/pseuds/yet_i_remain_quiet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver overhears Felicity talking to their unborn baby, he decides to listen in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> From the prompt: “Your dad is really excited to meet you soon, it’s driving me crazy.”

“Your dad is really excited to meet you soon, it’s driving me crazy.”  
  
Oliver paused in the doorway of the room that he shared with Felicity, carrying a tray of food. He remained out of sight as he listened to his wife speak.   
  
“He’s really excited about the whole ‘being a father’ thing,” Felicity continued. “I guess, because he missed it all with William. He sees you as his second chance. His chance to do it all right. And he will. He’s going to be an amazing father.”  
  
Oliver moved slightly, leaning so that he could look into the room. He could see Felicity, laying on their bed, surrounded by pillows and blankets. Her hands were resting on her rounded, seven and a half month pregnant belly. She gently rubbed her stomach as she continued speaking to their unborn child, a thoughtful expression on her face.  
  
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so excited as when I told you that you were on the way, little Peanut. He cried, which he almost never does. And he picked me up and spun me around, but he set me back down almost right away, nervous that he had hurt you.  
  
“That is the first thing you’ll learn about your father. He is protective. Sometimes it will feel like he’s too protective, but that’s only because he loves you and he doesn’t want anything to happen to you. He’s lost a lot of people that he has loved. Your grandma and grandpa. Your uncle Tommy, Auntie Laurel. We’ll tell you stories about them someday. He doesn’t want to lose anyone else. He wants you safe. And he’ll do anything to make sure that that happens.   
  
“I know this from experience, Peanut. Someday I’ll tell you stories of all the silly things your daddy did to keep me safe. I can relate though, I’d do anything to keep you safe too. You gave us quite the scare this week,” Felicity continued.  
  
Oliver recalled the “scare”. He had never been so terrified in his life.  
  
Felicity had been in the bunker, finishing up for the night and getting ready to head home. Oliver hadn’t been overjoyed by the idea of Felicity continuing to work with the team as she neared the end of her pregnancy. But Felicity had argued that it didn’t change anything. She wouldn’t stop helping keep the city safe just because she was pregnant. If anything, her being pregnant only drove her to want to fight more. To create a safer place for her child to live.   
  
The couple had had a huge argument which had resulted in Oliver spending the night on their couch. The next day, once both their tempers had cooled, they had agreed that Felicity could continue working with the team, on two conditions. The first, was Felicity had to leave at a decent hour, ensuring that she would always get the amount of sleep that she and the baby required. The second, was someone had to stay with her in the bunker at all times. That way, she wouldn’t be alone if anything were to happen.   
  
Oliver had been on his motorcycle, heading back to the bunker, listening to Felicity’s babbles over the comms, when she suddenly broke off with a pained gasp. Oliver had felt his entire body freeze in terror. He had begun screaming her name, demanding to know what was happening.   
  
It had been Thea’s turn to stay with Felicity, she informed Oliver that Felicity was experiencing some cramping and she was going to take Felicity to the hospital, just to make sure nothing was wrong. He could meet them there once he had changed out of his Green Arrow suit.   
  
Oliver had pushed his bike to the limit, weaving his way through traffic, desperate to get to Felicity’s side. He had made it back to the bunker in record time, breaking numerous traffic laws along the way. John was waiting for him as he quickly changed out of his suit. John drove him to the hospital and followed him inside. He had made it to Felicity’s side just as the doctor had been explaining that the cramping Felicity was feeling was most likely due to stress. Telling her that the best way to stop them and avoid any reocurrences, was bed rest.   
  
“Your dad was so worried,” Felicity whispered. “All he wants is to be a good father to you. I think it’s because his father wasn’t always the best. Your dad doesn’t want to be like him. And after everything with William, he needs to prove to himself that he can be a good father.  
  
“I know he will be, I’ve always known. He cares and loves with everything in him. He will treasure you and keep you safe. And he will always be there for you. Just like I will,” Felicity promised as she raised her fingers to her mouth, she placed a kiss to her fingertips before pressing them onto her belly.   
  
Oliver took a step forward, leaning on the door frame. Felicity looked up at him and smiled. “How long were you listening?”  
  
“Long enough,” Oliver answered, as he walked over to their bed. He placed the tray down on the bedside table. “I brought you some lunch.”  
  
Felicity carefully pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Food,” she cheered. “Is it…”  
  
“Grilled cheese with pickles,” Oliver finished, shaking his head at his wife’s food choices.  
  
“Perfect,” she smiled, taking a bite of the sandwich. “Mmmm, just what I was needing.”  
  
Oliver laid down on the bed next to Felicity, he placed his hand on her belly. “Hello, little one,” he greeted and leaned down, placing a kiss to her stomach, grinning when he felt their child kick under his hand.  
  
“She likes the sound of your voice,” Felicity muttered out in between bites of food.   
  
“‘She’?” Oliver asked in surprise. “Our little Peanut is a ‘she’ today? Yesterday, you were sure they were a ‘he’.”  
  
“Definitely, a girl,” Felicity decided. “The way she acts when she hears your voice, it’s the same way I react when I hear it.”  
  
“Maybe,” Oliver agreed. “You know, I never knew that this was possible.”  
  
“What?” Felicity asked.   
  
“To love someone this much, when I haven’t even met them yet,” Oliver whispered.   
  
“Just wait until we met our little Peanut,” Felicity smiled. “She will be so loved. She will be our greatest adventure.”  
  
“She will.” He gently rubbed circles on Felicity’s belly, feeling their child moving under his hand. “You’re right, you know.”  
  
“I usually am,” Felicity agreed. “But about what in particular?”  
  
“I am really excited to meet our little Peanut,” Oliver elaborated, he slid down the bed slightly, resting his head on Felicity’s belly. “More than I can even begin to explain. But I’m scared too.”  
  
“What do you have to be scared about?” Felicity asked, gently running her fingers through his hair.   
  
“What if I’m a bad father?” he confessed, fear creeping into his voice. “You’re right that I didn’t exactly have the best example growing up.”  
  
“Impossible,” Felicity declared. “You have read every single parenting book, cover to cover. You have baby proofed our entire house and the bunker. You built a nursery and have purchased at least a years supply of diapers. You can do this. Because you have me, so you’re not alone. We’re going to do this whole parenting thing together. Because we’re a team, and we can do this.”  
  
Oliver sighed, he rubbed his cheek against Felicity’s belly.   
  
“Together,” he echoed.

  
  



	2. "I want one"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on an ask from honorthedeadbyfighting's tumblr, about Olicity having a baby. I was inspired to write this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to make this into an on-going series of one shots that's all things with Olicity and babies :) Because that is my current obsession. Feel free to send me prompts or any ideas. My tumblr is yet-i-remain-quiet.tumblr.com

“I want one,” Felicity whispered thoughtfully.  
  
Oliver was sitting on the floor holding Sara Diggle. She was giggling as he carefully tossed her into the air and caught her. He looked up, startled at Felicity’s words.  
  
“What?” he choked out, unsure if he had heard her correctly.”  
  
“I want one,” Felicity repeated, this time her words were louder.  
  
Oliver placed Sara back on the floor, she made a sound of discontent, but Oliver handed her a stuffed toy, distracting her. He stood up and walked briskly to where Felicity say on the couch.  
  
“Do you mean…” Oliver asked hesitantly. “A baby?”  
  
“Yeah,” Felicity replied, a faraway look on her face as she watch Sara play with the stuffed unicorn. “A mini Oliver running around, climbing up on the furniture. Getting into trouble.”  
  
“Or a mini version of you,” Oliver suggested, the image of a little girl, running towards him, calling him Dad, filled his mind. “Smart and beautiful just like her mother.”  
  
“As long as she doesn’t inherit my tendency to babble and say inappropriate  things,” Felicity laughed.  
  
“Oh, I don’t know,” Oliver disagreed as he sat next to her. “That’s always been one of my favourite things about you. One of the first things I fell in love with.”  
  
“With your eyes,” Felicity added, a small smile across her face.  
  
“Your smile,” Oliver continued. “And ability to see the good in every situation.”  
  
“How many?” Felicity asked, looking at Oliver. “More than one?”  
  
“At least two,” he responded. “Maybe three or four. If you want.”  
  
“A boy first,” Felicity stated. “Then a girl. So, he can look out for her the way that you look out for Thea.”  
  
“Okay,” Oliver agreed, he carefully cradled Felicity’s face in his large hand.  
  
Felicity sighed happily. “When? I mean, should we get married first?”  
  
“Definitely,” Oliver settled. “But… you know what they say, ‘Practice makes perfect’.”  
  
“Oliver,” Felicity scolded, laughing as she turned her attention back to Baby Sara who had abandoned her toy and was now playing with building blocks. “We’re supposed to be watching Sara.”  
  
“I don’t mean this minute,” Oliver denied. “When we get home.”  
  
“We’re really doing this?” Felicity asked, turning to look at Oliver. “We’re not, I don’t know, rushing this? We’ve only been back together for a few months.”  
  
“Felicity, I have been dreaming of this day since Ivy Town,” Oliver announced. “I used to dream about a little blonde girl, running around the back yard. We were happy.”  
  
“I dye it,” Felicity interjected.  
  
“I know,” Oliver continued. “A little girl, with your smile and laugh. That called you mommy and looked just like you. I wasn’t the Arrow anymore, there were no criminals chasing us.”  
  
“Really?” Felicity said. “You never said anything.”  
  
“You weren’t ready,” Oliver explained. “I knew that. So, I waited.”  
  
“You waited?” Felicity echoed. “What if I was never ready?”  
  
“I hoped you would be,” Oliver admitted. “And I’d wait a lifetime for you.”  
  
“So, we’re doing this?” Felicity confirmed. “A baby. A real, screaming, crying, pooping baby.”  
  
“Yes,” Oliver replied.  
  
“Are you sure we can do this?” Felicity asked, fear entering her wide, blue eyes. “What if I’m a terrible mother? What if I can’t get them to stop crying? What if they don’t sleep? Then we won’t sleep. What if, because of that lack of sleep, we stop loving each other. What if I accidentally leave them in the car when I go to get groceries. Or–”  
  
“Fe-lic-ity,” Oliver interrupted her ranting, he covered her mouth with his hand. “We can do this. Together. We can do this.”  
  
Felicity nodded behind his hand, the fear leaving her eyes.  
  
“You are going to be an amazing mother,” Oliver promised. “And we have time. When it happens, we’ll be ready.”  
  
“Okay,” Felicity’s voice was muffled from Oliver’s hand, he lowered it. “Okay, we can do this, together.”  
  
“Together,” Oliver smiled and turned his attention back to Sara, who rubbed her eyes sleepily. He stood, walking over to her, cradling her in his arms. She settled in, her eyes drifting shut.  
  
Felicity stood from her place on the couch, she walked over to join them, her hand rested on Sara’s curls. A small laugh escaped her lips.  
  
“What?” Oliver whispered, trying not to disturb the toddler in his arms.  
  
“I just thought of something,” Felicity explained. “When we have a little girl. What are you going to do when she gets older. When she starts liking boys?”  
  
A frown crossed Oliver’s face. “I’d still have my arrows,” he said sternly. “They’d have to get through me first.”  
  
Felicity laughed loudly, Sara stirred in Oliver’s arms. Felicity covered her mouth, muting her laughter. “She will have to grow up sometime.”  
  
“When she’s 30,” Oliver countered. “She can date when she’s 30.”  
  
“Oh, this is going to be interesting,” Felicity whispered.  
  
“When has our life not been interesting?” Oliver asked as he walked down the hallway to Sara’s room.  
  
“True,” Felicity agreed, following behind.  
  
“I can’t wait,” Oliver whispered as he laid Sara on her bed.  
  
“Me too,” Felicity said as the couple left the room, closing the door behind them.


	3. Nap Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity arrives home to a pleasant sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @redpensandgreenarrows on Tumblr, sent me this picture and asked me to write a drabble with it, about Oliver taking a nap with Olicity's first child. 
> 
> This is what I came up with... Hope you enjoy it and please let me know what you think :)

 

Felicity opened the door to her house. Her body felt heavy, nearly dragging with exhaustion. Over the course of last few days she had been forced to sit through back to back meetings and spent a countless number of hours trying to work out the last few kinks in the latest piece of tech she and Curtis had been working on. Now, arriving at home, she was completely worn out. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and spend a few hours cuddling with Oliver and Tommy, the couple’s four month old son.   
  
Felicity leaned heavily against the door as she closed it behind her. Taking a deep breath in, she fought back the tears of exhaustion that were stinging her eyes, threatening to fall. As she released the breath, she took a moment to relax in the peaceful silence that surrounded her and she closed her eyes.   
  
Quiet.  
  
Her eyes snapped open, suddenly alert. Quiet. The house that Felicity and Oliver shared, since getting married over a year before, was never quiet. Whether it was music playing softly in the background or a sports game on TV, there was always some kind of noise. Especially, since they had returned home from the hospital following the birth of their son. The rooms of their house were filled with the sound and babbles, which it seemed their son had unfortunately inherited from his mother, of their little boy.   
  
Tommy was another reason that Felicity had been feeling so tired. He had never been a fussy baby, rarely crying, but over the last week, he had developed an ear infection. Which had led to many sleepless nights, full of tears and worry. She and Oliver took turns pacing the house, rocking their son, trying to get him to sleep.   
  
In the years that Oliver and Felicity had been together, she had also learned that Oliver disliked quiet, it made him uncomfortable. She related it to his years away, on Lian Yu and the horrors that had come after, quiet meant danger. Since returning, Oliver needed background noise, something to remind himself that he wasn’t still trapped in that hell.   
  
A feeling of panic built in her stomach. She began searching the house, moving from room to room as she searched for any sign of her husband and son. She dug through her bag, pulling her phone out. There was no messages from Oliver, nothing to indicate that he had gone anywhere. So then, where was he?  
  
“Oliver?” Felicity called, her voice seemed to echo eerily off of the walls of the seemingly empty house. She called his name again as she made her way up the stairs. She could feel the worry and panic growing in her body as her calls continued to go unanswered.  
  
She walked past the open door to their master bedroom, doubling back when something on the bed caught her eye. She stopped in the doorway and released the breath that she had been holding. A soft smile came across her face as she leaned against the doorframe.   
  
Oliver lay, shirtless, sprawled across the bed, sound asleep, as their son was draped over his arm, his small body curled against Oliver’s chest. She raised her phone, still held tightly in her hand, and took a quick picture of her family, feeling the need to preserve the precious memory.   
  
She loved watching Oliver sleep, it was rare to see him so still and relaxed. Even now, years later, the nightmares of what he had seen, what he had lived through, still haunted him. Nightmares that still caused him to wake in the middle of the night, heart pounding as he jerked out of bed, often waking Felicity, and being unable to fall back to sleep. Most days, he was up and out on a run before Felicity even woke from her restful sleep. And at night, he rarely fell asleep before Felicity, waiting for her if she had had a late night. It was rare that she caught Oliver sleeping, but she loved these moments.   
  
The adrenalin from the fear that had been coursing through her body, quickly drained out as she realized her family was safe. The exhaustion that she had been feeling upon arriving at home, hit her again. She toed off her uncomfortable, though adorable, shoes, stretching out her toes as she tiptoed across the room and stopped at the edge of the bed. She reached behind her back and pulled down the zipper of her dress. She wiggled the material down her body until it pooled at her feet, leaving her standing in her underwear. Feeling too tired to find pyjamas, she crawled onto the bed, curling her small body behind Oliver’s large muscular one.  
  
When she buried her nose between his shoulder blades, inhaling his familiar scent, she felt him stir. He raised his head, trying to look at her over his shoulder without disturbing the infant that lay, sleeping in his arms.   
  
“‘Licity?” he mumbled, his voice was rough with sleep.   
  
“Shhh,” she murmured. “It’s just me. Go back to sleep.”  
  
“Love you,” he muttered and sighed heavily before he settled back against the pillows.   
  
Felicity reached her arm around Oliver, searching with her fingers, until they came in contact with her son’s silky hair. She gently ran her fingers through the strands of blond. Her eyes drifted shut as the sound of Oliver’s steady heartbeat lulled her to sleep.


	5. First Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> redpensandgreenarrows asked:
> 
> I wish you would write a fic where baby Tommy says his first word. :-) (You have dragged me into a spiral of Olicity baby fluff and I'm LOVING it!!!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also borrowed a little from the Friends episode where Emma says her first word and Ross and Rachel argue over whether or not it's a real word.

“OLIVER!”  
  
Oliver jumped at the sound of his wife’s scream. His body tensed, ready to protect her. But, when he recognized excitement in her tone, not fear, he felt his body relax.   
  
“Oliver!” she called again.  
  
He could hear the sound of her feet racing down the hall. The echoing slap of her bare feet hitting the floor grew louder as she neared their bedroom, where he was, folding their laundry. He waited for her to reach the room.  
  
“Oliver!”  
  
The door swung open, hitting the wall behind it with a bang. He turned around to face her. Felicity stood in the doorway, with a bright smile stretched across her face. He could see her practically vibrating with excitement.   
  
“Oliver, Oliver, Oliver,” she repeated his name in an animated shriek.   
  
“Felicity, Felicity, Felicity,” he repeated her name back, an amused smile on his own face.   
  
“Guess what?” she squealed.  
  
“What?” he asked, curious what had his wife so hysterical. He abandoned the laundry pile, turning his attention to her.  
  
“Guess,” she commanded.   
  
“They released that new computer system early?” he guessed.  
  
She rolled her eyes and groaned dramatically. “No, I still have to wait two months for that. You would think that the CEO of a multibillion dollar company would have the connections to get things a little early, but no, I have to wait.”  
  
“So what is it?” Oliver asked, trying to get his wife back on track as she continued to ramble on in her usual endearing way.   
  
“Huh?” she asked, an adorable confused look on her face.   
  
“What had you running in here, screaming my name?” he reminded her.  
  
“Oh, right!” she nodded. “You will never guess what just happened!”  
  
“What?” Oliver asked.  
  
“Tommy said his first word!” she burst out, bouncing on her toes.  
  
“What?” Oliver said, he felt a burst of excitement course through his body. As he processed Felicity’s words, he frowned. “Tommy said his first word, and I missed it.”  
  
“I recorded it,” Felicity assured him, she held her phone out towards him.   
  
Their son, Tommy, was 11 months old and had been babbling nonsensical baby talk for the past few months. However, over the past few days, he had become closer to forming actual words. The couple had been silently competing, Felicity trying to get his first word to be ‘mom’ and Oliver hoping it would be ‘dad’.   
  
“What did he say?” Oliver asked, grabbing her phone, as the video began to play. He sat on the edge of the bed, completely entranced with watching his son on the small screen.  
  
“Just watch,” Felicity chided him. She climbed onto the bed next to him, watching the video over his shoulder.   
  
On the small screen, Oliver could see their son, sitting up and playing with blocks. He was smashing them together and knocking over the towers he had built, giggling and babbling away.   
  
“Tommy?” Felicity’s voice came through the speakers.   
  
Oliver watched their son turn towards his mother’s voice. A wide grin spread across his face. He held up the block that he clutched in his chubby fist. Holding it towards the camera, where Felicity was out of sight.   
  
“What have you got there?” she asked him.  
  
He babbled happily back, his words were gibberish, not making any sense to Oliver. The video suddenly jerked and cut off.   
  
“There!” Felicity shrieked. “Did you hear him?”  
  
“What?” Oliver asked, confused.  
  
“Here,” Felicity grabbed the phone out of his hand, she replayed the video.  
  
“Listen again,” she commanded.  
  
Oliver turned his head, pointing his ear towards the tiny speaker of the phone, listening carefully.  
  
“Here it comes,” Felicity breathed.  
  
Again, all Oliver could make out what the familiar sounds of his son’s babbles.   
  
“Did you hear it?” Felicity asked.  
  
Oliver shook his head.  
  
Felicity groaned, replaying the video again. “There!” she declared.   
  
“Felicity, I don’t hear anything,” Oliver said in an apologetic tone. “Just his usual babbles.”  
  
“No,” she argued, frustration leaking into her voice. She replay the video again.  
  
Oliver shook his head.  
  
“There,” she said, replaying a few seconds of the clip. “He clearly says: ylem.”  
  
Oliver frowned. “Felicity,” he spoke softly and as kindly as possible. “That’s not a real word.”  
  
“Yes, it is,” she insisted, grabbing her phone back.  
  
“Yem?” Oliver questioned, his voice filled with disbelief. “There is no way that is a real word, Felicity.”  
  
“Not yem,” she grumbled, exasperated. “Ylem. Y-L-E-M.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s not a word,” Oliver repeated.  
  
“Oliver,” Felicity snapped. “Let’s remember which one of us is the one with the genius level IQ.”  
  
“Okay.” Oliver struggled not to laugh at his wife’s stubbornness. “What does it mean?”  
  
“What?” Felicity asked, startled.   
  
“What does it mean?” Oliver repeated calmly. “Can you use it in a sentence?”  
  
Felicity remained silent for a moment, her cheeks turned slightly pink. “Well… I mean,” she paused and grabbed her phone. “Let’s look it up,” she declared.   
  
“Sure,” Oliver agreed.  
  
“Okay,” Felicity mumbled. She began typing into her phone. She was grumbling under her breath. Most of it, Oliver was unable to understand, but he recognized his name a few times, usually followed by various insults.   
  
“Ha!” Felicity burst out. “I was right! It is a word.”  
  
“What?” Oliver exclaimed, he leaned over to see the screen.  
  
“‘Ylem: (in the Big Bang Theory) the primordial matter of the universe,” Felicity recited, reading from the page. “See, I told you it was a word.”  
  
Oliver stared at her, an amused smile on his face. “You’re right. Clearly he got your brains.”  
  
Felicity smiled triumphantly and nodded. “Thank goodness,” she agreed.   
  
Oliver ignored the jab, shaking his head slightly. “And where is our little genius?”  
  
“Sleeping,” Felicity supplied. “I put him down for his nap before I came up here.”  
  
“Are you sure all your screaming didn’t wake him up?” Oliver teased.   
  
“Our son not only inherited my brains,” Felicity bragged. “But, he also inherited my ability to sleep through anything.”  
  
Oliver nodded, he smiled as he pulled Felicity into his arms. He fell backwards onto the bed, pulling her body on top of his, causing her to giggle. “Should we test that theory?”  
  
“Hmm?” Felicity hummed, brushing her nose along Oliver’s cheek.  
  
“I bet I can make you scream my name for a very different reason,” Oliver said suggestively, as he gently nipped at Felicity’s neck.  
  
“I’m up the the challenge,” she giggled as his stubble tickled her exposed neck. “Besides, I was thinking, Tommy needs a sibling.”  
  
Oliver growled in the back of his throat, busying himself with lifting her shirt over her head. He rolled them over, so his body was covering hers.  
  
Felicity reached down in between their bodies, just as she flicked the button of Oliver’s jeans open, the monitor that sat beside their bed crackled to life. The loud cries of their son echoed through the room.   
  
Oliver groaned. “To be continued,” he whispered and he pushed himself up.   
  
“I’m holding you to that,” Felicity called after him as he left the room to comfort their son.


	6. Adventures in Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr request: pink-bird-30: How about Felicity and Oliver overly concerned about going out for the first time since the baby is born and they leave the baby with Barry and Cisco and throughout the whole dinner they try so hard not to call them to check up on the baby, meanwhile Barry and Cisco struggle majorly on how to change a diaper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy and let me know what you think :) 
> 
> Feel free to send me any prompts, yet-i-remain-quiet.tumblr.com

“Oliver, that's the fifth time you’ve checked your phone in the last 30 minutes.”  
  
“What?” Oliver asked distractedly. He looked up from the screen of his phone to meet Felicity’s amused gaze.  
  
“Five times,” she repeated, nodding at his phone. “You’ve checked your phone five times since we got here 30 minutes ago.”  
  
“No,” he denied, shaking his head. “There’s no way, it hasn’t been that many times.”  
  
“Yep,” she giggled. “You checked it once when we first sat down. Then again when the waiter took our drink order. Once when he brought them. Then when he came back to take our actual order, and again, just now. That’s five.”  
  
Oliver opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out.   
  
“Tommy is fine,” she assured him. She was referring to their nine month old son. Tonight was the first time they had ever left him with a babysitter, and Oliver couldn’t fight the nervous feeling in his stomach, hence the number of times he had checked his phone.   
  
“We’re supposed to be taking a night off, a date” Felicity reminded him. She reached across the table to take his hand. “Cisco and Barry will take good care of him.”  
  
“Do you really belief that?” Oliver asked skeptically.  
  
“Of course,” Felicity smiled brightly. “I have complete and utter faith in them.”  
  
“Really?” Oliver pressed, a smirk creeping onto his face. He watched as the smile faltered slightly on her face, but she forced it back on, nodding soundly. “Then why have you gone to the washroom four times since we sat down?”  
  
Felicity froze with her glass of water half way to her lips, her eyes widened. Their conversation paused as the waiter returned with their food. Oliver nodded in thanks, not taking his eyes off of Felicity.  
  
“Because, if you really need to go that often, you should probably see your doctor,” Oliver teased once the waiter left.   
  
Felicity’s cheeks flushed as she placed her glass back down on the table. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she avoided his eyes, focused on the edge of the table cloth as she twisted it between her fingers.   
  
“Really?” he continued, the smile growing on his face. “So, you’re not going to the washroom to check your phone, or I don’t know, to use your tablet to access the cameras in the house to check in?”  
  
Felicity’s cheeks flushed and bit her lip.  
  
“Tommy’s fine,” Oliver echoed her previous statement, but there was a mocking edge to it. “Barry and Cisco can handle it, right? Isn’t that what you said?”  
  
Oliver held back a laugh as he watched Felicity fight with herself, biting her tongue as she tried to hold back a retort.  
  
“Don’t you trust them?” he teased, curious how long she’d be able to hold back.  
  
He didn’t have to wait long as she smacked both of her hands down on the table a few seconds later. “No,” she burst out. “I mean, yes, I trust them, I do, when we’re out in the field or on a mission. But…”  
  
“Not with Tommy?” Oliver asked softly.   
  
“I don’t know,” she cried. “Does that make me a terrible person? They’re our friends, our teammates. But…”  
  
“He’s our son,” Oliver finished her sentence. He reached across the table, taking her hand and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.   
  
“And it’s Cisco and Barry,” she emphasized. “What do they even know about taking care of a baby? I mean, these are the same two guys that once rigged a toaster to play the entire Star Wars Theme when the toast finished cooking.”  
  
Oliver recalled hearing about the incident, he also remembered that the toaster had required so much energy that they had knocked out the power to the entire block.  
  
“It’s the first time we’ve left Tommy,” Oliver reasoned. “I think we’re allowed to be nervous, expected to be even.”  
  
“Of all nights for John and Lyla to go visit her parents,” Felicity mumbled bitterly. “And my mom just had to get sick.”  
  
Oliver nodded in agreement. “And Thea had to go visit Roy,” he added as his imagination ran wild with different situations that Cisco and Barry could be getting their son into, each one more terrifying and worrisome than the next.  
  
“You know,” Felicity said thoughtfully, fiddling with her cell phone. “Like you said, it’s our first time leaving Tommy, our only child, with babysitters, who have very limited, if any, experience with children. No one could fault us for being nervous, or you know, calling to check in.”  
  
Oliver raised his eyes to meet hers, a look of realization on his face, as it clicked in his mind as to what his wife was suggesting.  
  
“I mean, some might even say we were being negligent parents if we didn’t, call, I mean,” Felicity continued, trying to excuse her actions. “And if everything is fine, then great, we can finish dinner and head home, no harm done.”  
  
Oliver nodded, leaning forward. “Right,” he agreed. “No harm in just checking in. We’re just concerned and caring parents.”  
  
“Exactly. I’m calling,” Felicity decided, quickly dialling Barry’s cell number.   
  
“Put it on speaker,” Oliver requested, gesturing to the phone.   
  
Felicity complied, placing the device on the table as the nervous couple listened to the phone ring, waiting for someone to pick up on the other end.   
  
“Felicity?” Barry’s voice echoed through the speaker.  
  
“Hey Barry,” she said casually. “Oliver and I just wanted to call to check in, make sure everything was going okay.”  
  
“Again?” Barry asked. “You called 15 minutes ago, I told you, everything is fine.”  
  
Oliver looked at Felicity, his eyebrows raised. “15 minutes ago?” he muttered. That had been about the time of Felicity’s last visit to the washroom.   
  
“What?” she whispered innocently. “I thought I had left the oven on.”  
  
“You don’t use the oven,” Oliver reminded her, smiling at his wife’s terrible excuse.  
  
“Whatever,” she retorted. “Anyway, Barry, how are things going? Did he fight you on the veggies at dinner, he does that sometimes.”  
  
“Umm… Fine,” Barry answered distractedly. “Totally fine. No veggie fights.”  
  
Before Oliver or Felicity could respond, they heard Cisco calling Barry’s name in the background.  
  
“What’s wrong?” Barry said urgently, his voice was slightly muffled, as if he was trying to cover the mouth piece.   
  
“I need your help,” came Cisco’s desperate reply. “I thought I could handle this, but I can’t. You have to help me.”  
  
“But…” Barry said fearfully.  
  
“Barry. I have had your back for years, through everything, I need you to have mine now,” Cisco begged. “Don’t make me go back in there alone. This is a two man job.”  
  
Barry groaned. “Felicity?” his voice came clearly though the speaker. “I gotta go.”  
  
“Barry?” she called to him. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”  
  
“I’ll see you later. If I survive this,” he added in an undertone.   
  
‘“Barry?” Oliver tried, but was met with the sound of the dial tone. He stared at the phone for a few seconds.   
  
“I’ll get the cheque,” Felicity jumped up, running to find their waiter.  
  
“I’ll get our coats,” Oliver added, walking briskly to the coat room.  
  
The couple met at the door, Felicity had her phone raised to her ear. “They aren’t answering,” she said worriedly, dialling the number again as Oliver pushed the door open.  
  
Oliver quickly ushered her out to their car, he started driving before Felicity even had her seat belt on, spending in the direction of their house. Breaking half a dozen traffic laws, he pulled into the driveway in half the time the drive should have taken.   
  
The couple jumped out of the car, racing to the front door.   
  
“Barry?” Felicity called desperately, the second they were through the door.   
  
Oliver was on high alert, years of training kicking in as he cased the state of their home. For the most part, it seemed to be in the same state they had left it in. Fairly tidy, except for a few of Tommy’s toys scattered on the floor, nothing seemed out of place.   
  
“Barry! Cisco!” Felicity called again. Not hearing a response, she ran through the living room, into the kitchen, repeating their friends’ names.  
  
“Up here,” finally came a distant reply.   
  
Oliver ran up the stairs, taking two at a time, he could hear Felicity’s hurried footsteps as she ran behind him.   
  
“We’re in here,” Barry’s voice was clearer and seemed to be coming from their bathroom.  
  
Oliver and Felicity burst through the door, freezing in confusion at the site that lay before them.  
  
Barry was holding their son out at arms length, over the bathtub, while Cisco held the detachable shower head, pointing the spray of water at their son’s bare bottom.   
  
“You’re back,” Cisco sighed in relief, he turned the water off.  
  
Barry jumped up, holding Tommy out towards Oliver. “Here,” he said. “Take him back.” There was a gust of wind and Barry was gone in a blur.   
  
Oliver held his son, still frozen in shock. His eyes narrowed as he turned his glare towards Cisco, who was avoiding his eyes and staring at the ground. He walked over to the counter, pulling out a diaper to cover up his son. Tommy was gazing up at his father, giggling happily as he rubbed his small hands over his father’s scruffy face.  
  
“Cisco,” Felicity asked curiously. “Um… What… Why… How… What…”  
  
“Huh?” Cisco asked, still avoiding the couple’s questioning gaze.   
  
“What the hell is going on?” Felicity finally managed to string a full sentence together.   
  
“Oh… Well, you see,” he stammered.   
  
“Cisco,” Oliver growled, using his Arrow voice.  
  
He picked his son up, having finished changing him and held him close to his chest.   
  
“It was going fine, everything was great, he ate his dinner, we were playing with him, there hadn’t been any tears, but then…” Cisco trailed off.   
  
“Then?” Felicity prompted. She moved over to stand next to her husband, running her hand over their son’s soft hair.   
  
“He…” Cisco mumbled the rest of his explanation under his breath. Oliver and Felicity looked at each other in confusion, neither able to make out what had been said.  
  
“What?” Oliver asked for clarification.  
  
Cisco mumbled out his story again, staring at the floor.  
  
“One more time,” Felicity asked impatiently.   
  
“He pooped,” Cisco blurted, looking up. “Okay! And I’m not talking a normal baby sized poop. I’m talking a huge, giant, should not have been able to come out of something so small, poop. It completely filled the diaper and it was everywhere, like up his back, everywhere. Which can’t be normal,” Cisco waved his arms wildly as he recalled the events of the evening, clearly traumatized.   
  
“It was awful. And Barry and I had rock, paper, scissored over diapers earlier, but I couldn’t do it alone,” Cisco’s cheeks were pale and there was a look of horror on his face. “It was… Awful. I didn’t think it was possible for something like that, to come out of someone so small.”  
  
Oliver and Felicity stood in silence for a moment after Cisco finished recounting the event, before they burst into peals of laughter.  
  
“It’s not funny,” Cisco said in a betrayed tone. “Fine, laugh at my pain. I’m only scarred for life and never having children.”  
  
The couple only laughed louder as Cisco stalked past them, out of the bathroom.  
  
Felicity was the first to recover, running to catch up with his retreating form.   
  
“Cisco, thank you,” she said, trying to hold back her laughter. “And I’m sorry, if you were scarred for life.”  
  
“Right,” he bit out. “You look really sorry.”  
  
“So,” she asked. “Can we count on you for next time?”  
  
Cisco turned to face her, a glare on his face that rivalled Oliver’s. “Ha,” he said sarcastically. “I’m busy, at least until that little poop machine is potty trained.”  
  
A stream of giggles burst through her lips, unable to be held back any longer. Cisco glared and stomped his way out the front door, muttering under his breath. Felicity closed the door, leaning against it as she tried to get her laughter under control. She looked up to see Oliver, still carrying Tommy, half way down the stairs.   
  
“So, that went well,” Oliver chuckled, bouncing Tommy on his hip.  
  
Felicity walked up the stairs to meet her family. “Definitely,” she retorted. “Do… do you think it was on purpose?”  
  
“What?” Oliver asked.  
  
“Poop sabotage,” Felicity giggled. “Maybe our little monster didn’t like us being gone anymore than we liked leaving him.”  
  
“I doubt it,” Oliver laughed lightly. “But, just in case, maybe we shouldn’t leave him with any babysitters for a while. You know, we wouldn’t want to scar anymore of our friends.”  
  
“I agree,” Felicity nodded, following Oliver as he walked up the stairs to put Tommy to bed. 


End file.
